Play@YSDC

Maxwell's Sanitarium - London, England
12:00 PM - Tuesday, September 10, 1940

At around lunchtime, Archie and Anna returned to the sanitarium, where they rejoined the rest of their group. Story, Elizabeth, and Brook had left to do additional research, and Benjamin had gone on an errand to his tailor's shop.

Phyllis is very pleased to see Archie and Anna, “How did you get on? Did you have any luck?”

'Any luck with what? I thought we agreed someone would follow us and observe what Mrs Steadman got up to?' seethes Anna.

“I thought we were staying behind to prepare for tonight,” replies Eugene. “If the creature is going to emerge from me or Angus here, then we can’t really be running around town. Besides, we’re patients here - it’s taken us this long to work out a plan to get out of hospital so we can make ready in the church, away from innocent bystanders.”

Phyllis bristles, “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Eugene and I were always going to stay here. I thought you were following the Steadmans. What about that young chit of a girl and her odd companions, where did they disappear off too; I thought they went with you!”
“And Eugene is right, he and Sergeant McDonald aren’t safe here so we are going to spring them as soon as Mr Klein gets back from the tailors.”

Anna looks incensed, 'A breakout, from the sanatorium where I work. We'll that is just perfect!

Eugene shrugs. “The alternative is to endanger the lives of everyone else in this hospital.”

“You don’t have to have anything to do with it if you’d rather not. We do understand your position of course. And we could meet you later.” Says Phyllis.

“Why don’t we have some lunch while we are waiting. Is there a canteen here? I’d like to keep an eye on the sergeant at all times. And Eugene here of course.”

Anna spends a few minutes huffing before eventually saying 'Oh, bother this, you can go to the cafeteria for some food, I'll go and talk to Dr Stoddard about getting the sergeant discharged into the care of Mrs Cruckshank. Eugene can check himself out whenever he likes, he is a voluntary patient!'

"Fair enough, I'm famished!" Eugene says cheerfully.

While everyone else ate lunch, Anna went up to Dr. Stoddard's office, where his secretary Megan admitted her. Dr. Stoddard looked up from the paperwork on his desk. "How can I help you, Dr. Jerkins?"

Breezily Anna says, 'Ah, Dr Stoddard, I'm glad I caught you. I wanted to talk about discharging Sergeant McDonald into the care of his aunt Mrs Cruckshank. He's been doing very well and seeing her visit him today he has brightened up considerably. I think it will be quite therapeutic for him.'

"I'm glad you're taking an interest and that you and Mrs. Cruckshank have been able to help him," said Dr. Stoddard. "Unfortunately, the Home Guard officer who brought Sergeant MacDonald in was very clear in his instructions that the sergeant was not to be discharged without his permission."

'Oh well, I'm sure that won't be a problem' says Anna. 'Could you give me his details and I will see if I can have a word with him. It would be a shame for the Sergeant if he couldn't go and stay with his aunt.'

"He was a Group Commander Frye," said Dr. Stoddard. "Tall chap, bald, about fifty. I'm sorry, but that's all I know about him."

Anna heads back to the others to see if they've heard of Commander Fry.

Eugene shakes his head.

"I don't recall hearing the name miss."

“I’ll ask Sergeant MacDonald where his commanding officer is based but I’m not sure it will be worth tracking the gentleman down- what if he says no? Then we’d be in a right pickle and no mistake!” Says Phyllis.

"Group Commander Frye isn't my commanding officer," said Angus when Phyllis spoke to him. "That would be Platoon Commander Deering. Technically I'm a Squad Commander in the Home Guard, they've got different ranks than the regular Army, but I was a sergeant in the last war. Frye was the one what debriefed me after...it happened. That was back at Home Guard headquarters." He gave her the telephone number.

“Well, I shall try my best.” Phyllis takes the number and heads outside to find a public phone box.

Phyllis looks round on the street outside the sanitarium.

Luck,65,[dice]0[/dice]

The woman who answered the phone put Phyllis on hold, but after a few minutes a man answered her: "Group Commander Frye," said his gruff voice. "How can I help you, ma'am?"

persuade,70,[dice]0[/dice],

Phyllis senses the officer bristling at the other end of the line and her resolve, for once, fails her,
“Oh, er, Commander Frye, I’m Angus’ aunt, Angus MacDonald; he’s staying at the sanitarium. He’s not very happy there and Id like to offer to take him home with me for a few days to recuperate from his horrible experience. There’s nothing better than a few home cooked meals to straighten a person out, I always say...” She listens for the response.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," replied Frye. "I'm afraid that is simply out of the question."

“Well, thank you for your time.” Phyllis hangs the phone up and walks back into the sanitarium to find the others.
“I’m afraid it’s back to Operation Great Escape as soon as Mr Klein returns with the alterations. I wasn’t able to persuade Sergeant MacDonld’s superior to let him go.” She whispers.

"I suppose there's nothing left to do but wait," says a slightly deflated Eugene.

Everyone ate lunch while waiting for the others to return, but it was still hours before they did. Around teatime, Story, Elizabeth, and Brook came back. "We've discovered some interesting things about our foe," said Story.

Before he could elaborate, Benjamin also rejoined them with the orderly uniforms. "I'm afraid this was the best I could do," he said. "The material is quite frankly inferior. I couldn't make all the necessary alterations, or I'd have risked tearing it. Hopefully nobody will look too closely."

OOC,[b]Story[/b]'s Library Use roll (90% skill): [dice]0[/dice] [b]Elizabeth[/b]'s Library Use roll (75% skill): [dice]1[/dice] [b]Brook[/b]'s Library Use roll (25% base skill): [dice]2[/dice] [b]Benjamin[/b]'s Craft(Tailor) roll (65% skill): [dice]3[/dice]

“I’m sure they’ll do marvellously, Mr Klein. Now, Mr Storey, tell us about the villain and then we’d best be getting these two gentlemen ready. We have to get to the church before it gets dark. Thank goodness it’s summer time.” Remarks Phyllis.

"Our true foe is not the Steadmans," began Story. "The real enemy is the entity they so foolishly unleashed upon the world: the Father of All Bats. He is one of many guises for a powerful being known as Nyarlathotep. My companions and I have had a run-in with him before, in the form of the Black Pharaoh. The Jaegerschrecks are merely his servants, and while they and the Father of All Bats both share a vulnerability to light, their power is nothing compared to their master's. The Steadmans thought they were protecting Britain from the Nazis, but they've exposed it to a far greater danger. If this being is not stopped, and soon, I fear for the whole world.

After a dramatic pause to let this sink in, he continued. "The Father of All Bats is vulnerable to light in its current form, as my young companion so cleverly proved." He smiled at Brook. "However, he has the power to take over someone as a host, an avatar if you will. It must be someone that the Father of All Bats has marked, someone who has gazed into its tri-lobed red eye - for he has looked back. He will call his prey to him. The call is weak at first, but it will grow stronger over time until it is irresistible. Once the victim is lured to his lair, he can merge with the hapless person. Once in human form, the Father of All Bats will be even more powerful than he is already. He will be as immune to light as any of us, he will look just like one of us, but he will have godlike powers and no limitations. This cannot be permitted to happen, or the entire human race is in terrible danger." He let out a breath. "Please, share what you've discovered, Elizabeth."

"I researched the stone that the Steadmans have got," said Elizabeth. "It's called the Shining Trapezohedron, and it's a very ancient artifact from Egypt. An American named Enoch Bowen discovered it in the last century in the tomb of the Black Pharaoh, Nephren-Ka, and brought it back home to Providence, where he established a cult based around it called The Church of Starry Wisdom. An author named Robert Blake discovered it in the ruins of the church in 1935, and he accidentally summoned The Father of All Bats with it. It couldn't leave the church due to the streetlights outside, but a power failure allowed it to roam freely. Blake was found dead in his home. The official cause of death was a heart attack, and it appears that he must have died from fright when it came after him. The Shining Trapezohedron was cast into the sea, but Captain Travers hauled it up with his fishing boat in 1938 and sold it to Steadman. The artifact itself is seemingly indestructible, always resurfacing even after being hidden. It is not of this world. It is believed to come from a planet called Yuggoth, which we know better as Pluto."

“We need to get hold of that shining trapa-wotsit,” Eugene declares. “You should’ve taken it from the Steadmans when you had the chance. I’ve felt it’s power; without it they can’t summon that monster.” He slumps onto a seat. “I-I don’t know how we can stop them without it.”

Phyllis looks kindly at Eugene and then frowns. “Then Eugene and Angus wont be safe until- until when? What do we have to do to stop it?” She wonders about asking them how they stopped the Black Pharaoh but then couldn’t fathom how that could be the case. She shakes her head. Here and now was the important thing.

'So we need to confront this bat-thing where we have access to bright lights?' asks Anna.

"That's the problem," said Story. "Its lair is that warehouse, and we know that it has some dark chambers underground where it can hide. We'd only have the lights we can carry with us, but light is our only effective weapon. During the day it will have to take shelter, but at night it can travel freely thanks to the blackout."

"I did hit it with that searchlight when it first appeared," said Brook. "That was very effective, but that only works outside."

"Yes, and we can't count on it going out if it doesn't have to. It could just lurk in the warehouse until it takes control of a host. After that, light won't hurt it."

"The stone is connected to it somehow," said Elizabeth. "That was its gateway into this world. But there's no evidence that it can banish it."

"Maybe if we had that dagger," said Brook, "the one that was used to summon the Black Pharaoh. You said it has power over Nyarlathotep."

"Yes, but I don't know how it's meant to be used, and we don't know what became of it. That was years ago. I imagine it was taken by the police as evidence at the time, but it's a priceless artifact, so it would have been returned to the British Museum eventually. It must have been evacuated with all the other treasures, but there's no telling where. Maybe it's in the vault under Aldwych, if we're lucky, but I can't imagine Carole Siddons allowing us to take it out even if it is."

"There are two things we must do to stop the threat," said Story. "We must defeat the Father of All Bats with light, and we must retrieve the Shining Trapezohedron. Without that, it can just return to the world."

"We know that the Steadmans are meeting at Liverpool Street Station at six o'clock," said Benjamin. "That's less than two hours from now. They'll have the stone with them. But the sun sets around seven. We don't have a whole lot of daylight."

“And how close does this monster need to be to its victim to turn it into a host? Phyllis asks, struggling a bit with all these alien concepts. “I suppose the dagger would be catalogued carefully if it is priceless. You might be able to track it down.”

"It requires physical contact to take someone over," said Story. "My companions and I can stop by the British Museum and see if we can talk to Carole Siddons before she leaves for the day. She was around at the time the incident with the dagger happened, and we all know her."

Archie:

Archie looks at the orderly uniforms in confusion. "Ah, why are there orderly uniforms?"

Phyllis smiles conspiratorially, “Well, Archie, we didn’t think it was age enough here for Eugene and Sergeant McDonald so they are going to escape in disguise!” She says in a low voice.

“And we are going to hide them while everyone else searches for that stone and the dagger, hopefully. We’ll head to the church unless you think somewhere else would be better to avoid that monster. As long as they stay away from it they’ll be okay.”

Archie:

Archie nods enthusiastically. "Bravo! I like this plan! The church sounds like a good place to seek sanctuary to me, but I'm biased."

“Well, there’s no time to waste, there’s a lot to be done in the next couple of hours. Eugene and Angus, are you ready to try these on for size?” Phyllis stands up, ready for action.

'If you're going to break out the Sergeant, I'd better make myself scarce' says Anna. 'Maybe I can help with some of the preparations outside the sanatorium?'

Eugene tries on the uniform. “I hope it fits better this time...” he mutters.

Anna looks sceptically at Eugene, 'I suppose I shouldn't ask where you got those uniforms.'

Archie:

"Shall we see these brave fellows to the church first, before tackling the problem of the Steadmans?"

Eugene gives Anna a guilty smile.

“Best not to ask Miss.”

He nods at Archie’s declaration.

“Come on then, while it’s still light ; let’s get going.”

As Eugene and Angus headed for the exit where the ambulances brought in patients, a pair of real orderlies came in from outside. Both of their eyes widened with recognition when they looked at the escaping patients. "Hold it right there!" ordered one of them.

"We're doomed!" cried Angus.

OOC,Orderly 1's Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) to notice [b]Eugene[/b] and [b]Angus[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] Orderly 2's Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) to notice [b]Eugene[/b] and [b]Angus[/b]: [dice]1[/dice]

"Run!" Eugene yells, grabbing Angus and making a bolt for it.

Archie:

"Oh, I say, what is going on here," Archie cries. In his concern, he bustles over to the real orderlies and generally gets in their way, tripping over etc. "Oh, I do beg your pardon, this is very exciting but I'm afraid I'm famously clumsy." Archie will endeavor to wind up under someone's feet. "I say, could someone give me a hand up?" He continues to prattle on in the manner of the classic fussy but hopelessly unworldly village vicar.

Mrs Cruckshank totters after them,
“Excuse me, young man! That ambulance driver is waving rather frantically at you!” Phyllis waves her umbrella At the orderlies with scary abandon and tries to get them to look the opposite direction, away from the fleeing imposters. Whilst trying not to laugh at Archie’s antics.

Persuade,70[dice]0[/dice] Oh no!

Eugene ducked and weaved around the orderly that tried to grab him, managing to bypass him and skedaddle out the back door, but Angus moved too slowly. The other orderly wrapped his arms around the older man.

"Gotcha!" he said. "Bob, give 'im a sedative!"

OOC,Orderly 1's Grapple roll (55% skill) to grab [b]Eugene[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] Orderly 2's Grapple roll (55% skill) to grab [b]Angus[/b]: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Angus[/b]'s Grapple roll (25% base skill) to parry the orderly's Grapple: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Angus[/b]'s Dodge roll (18% base skill) to avoid the orderly: [dice]3[/dice] That would actually be a Fast Talk roll (there's no time for Persuade anyway), but it's still a failure, though fortunately not a critical one. [b]Archie[/b], you may attempt a Grapple roll of your own to get in the orderly's way and allow [b]Angus[/b] to escape. [b]Phyllis[/b] and [b]Eugene[/b], you've already taken your action this round.

Archie:

Grapple 25%,[dice]0[/dice] [ooc]A very unexpected success! Greatly inspired by the likes of the Keystone Cops, and Laurel and Hardy.[/ooc]

Archie stumbled into the orderly, causing him to lose his grip on Angus, who hurried out the door after Eugene. The orderlies turned around and pursued them into the car park.

OOC,[b]Eugene[/b], please roll Luck.

Luck 45,[dice]0[/dice]

Eugene ain’t lucky today...

While glancing back at his pursuers, Eugene collided with another pair of orderlies on their way to the entrance and fell backwards, landing on his posterior. Seeing that all was lost, Angus stopped and put up his hands.

"Nice try," said one of the orderlies coming up behind them, taking out a syringe. "Looks like we're going to have to lock you in a padded cell."

Hearing the commotion and suspecting her companions' escape had not gone as planned Anna goes to investigate, 'What on earth is going on here?' she asks the orderlies.

"Caught a couple of patients dressed up as orderlies trying to escape," said one of the real orderlies.

'Dressed as orderlies? Which patients?' she asks as she looks around, feigning ignorance of the ill conceived plan.

"These two, Doctor," said the orderly, indicating Eugene and Angus. "I realise it's confusing because they look like us in that getup, but we know our own, and we know the patients."

'Mr Thomson! You are a voluntary patient, you could just ask to be discharged. And Sergeant MacDonald, really, I expected better from you.' She reaches out to take the syringe from the orderly, 'Leave them with me' she says to the orderlies and then gestures to Eugene and Angus, 'You two, come with me'.

"I don't think we can leave you alone with them," said the same orderly. "They're tricky and might be dangerous." He shook his head. "You mean he tried to escape when he could have just walked out any time? Well, he can't now. Trying to help another patient to escape is serious, especially this one. Some high muckety-muck in the Home Guard insisted that he not be released."

OOC,[b]Anna[/b], please roll Credit Rating.

Anna Credit Rating 40%,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   Nope, just not important enough

"Sorry, Doc," said the orderly. "We just can't take a chance with your safety." The one with the syringe knelt down to inject Eugene.

OOC,It's not that you're not important enough, it's just that your status as a doctor isn't enough to override their safety concerns.

Phyllis looks on in dismay as the orderly unwittingly is about to cause Angus’s possible demise. She’s become rather fond of the sergeant.
“Oh please don’t inject him or lock them up! It’s all my fault; blame a batty old woman. You can take me to your supervisor right now and I’ll confess everything. I promise.”

Fast talk,If it’s now the next round and I can: 55 [dice]0[/dice]

"You mean you're responsible for this?" the orderly said, turning when she spoke. "Right, I suppose we'd all best go see someone authority. Everyone, back inside." He and his partner hauled Eugene to his feet.

Will all his energy spent, Eugene dejectedly allows himself to be frogmarched along.

“The dark...” he mutters. “Keep away the dark...”

'May I do that?' says Anna placing her hand on the orderly's, hoping to inject Eugene with a much smaller dose of sedative than intended.

Phyllis walks staunchly in front of the orderlies but inside she is wondering what on earth she is going to say,
“ Oh Phyllis Cruckshank, you have got yourself into a right pickle.” She says to herself.

Anna Pharmacy 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

Anna tries to squeeze as little sedative into the injection as she can without rousing suspicion from the orderlies.

OOC:   Success

Anna successfully injected Eugene with a lower dosage. He felt a little groggy, but he was able to hold onto consciousness.

The group went upstairs to the top floor, where the secretary Megan admitted everyone to Dr. Stoddard's office. He looked up from his desk in surprise. "What in the world is going on?" he demanded.

"Escape attempt, sir," said the talkative orderly. "These two patients dressed up as orderlies and tried to slip out, but we sussed them out right quick. This old lady-" he motioned to Phyllis, "said it was her fault."

Archie:

Archie steps in hastily. "Doctor, I'm Reverend Pennyfeather, and I know Mrs Crukshank very well. I believe there has been a simple miscommunication here. Mrs Crukshank did not mean to suggest she was helping anyone escape. I believe Mrs Crukshank blames herself for not intervening at an earlier time with poor Eugene. She is convinced had she done so, he would not require medical assistance now. This is what she meant when she said this was all her fault."

"Mrs Crukshank is very active in the Women's Institute and her charitable works are a thing of legend. I can assure you she is a person of impeccable character."

"And I must add," Archie turns to the orderly who had just spoken and suddenly there is a lot less reverend and a lot more lieutenant commander, "that calling someone an old lady is uncouth. I believe you, sir, owe the lady an apology."

Phyllis, who is looking very flustered, gives Reverend Pennyfeather a grateful glance and then turns her best gimlet stare on the orderly.

The orderly blanched and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, his voice quivering.

"Well, both patients will need to be confined to padded cells, for their own safety," said Dr. Stoddard. "Good job stopping the escape. We can't have this in our institution. We just had one escape a few days ago, an extremely dangerous patient, and we were lucky to get her back before she hurt anyone else. The Home Guard was particularly concerned about MacDonald here, and they left explicit instructions that he was not to leave. I don't relish telling them what happened."

Archie:

"Quite, quite," Archie says agreeably, "let's leave the busy doctor to his work."

Anna asks to have a quiet word with Dr Stoddard. 'They weren't aggressive Dr Stoddard, could we keep them on the open ward with closer observations? I've administered a sedative to Mr Thomson so he shouldn't be any trouble.'

"I'll allow Mr. Thomson to remain on the ward under the circumstances," said Dr. Stoddard, "but I can't take a chance with MacDonald. It's my neck if we lose him."

'Thank you Dr Stoddard' says Anna, and she returns to inform the others.

'I'm sorry Sergeant MacDonald, you will have to spend a little time in one of the seclusion rooms, Eugene, you can stay on the ward. We are going to have to revise our plans.'

“I’m so sorry it all went so horribly wrong.” Phyllis apologises to Eugene and Angus. “I suppose Sergeant MacDonald you should be safer in a private room; don’t worry we won’t abandon you.” She pats his arm.
“Thank you for putting ina good word for me, Reverend; old woman indeed; that young man needs a clip round the ear!”
“Yes, that certainly does change our plans. We will have to stay here somehow but I don’t suppose they allow visitors overnight?” She says to Anna.

“You all tried your best,” sighs Eugene. “I suppose it’s back to square one: you need to lock the Sergeant and me in together with lots of lamps, flashbulbs and anything that’ll make light.”

'Yes, well, I did warn you' says Anna primly. 'We wouldn't usually allow visitors overnight but I should be able to remain in my office and I could conceivably have visitors out of hours, although it will raise some eyebrows. Access to the wards for anyone but me, and maybe someone to accompany me would be difficult.'

“I suppose if they are locked up together and you have the key it might be alright. And Reverend Pennyfeather and I will be waiting in the wings. That’s probably the best we can do.” Phyllis says to Anna. “Do you think so?” She asks Archie.

Archie:

"Absolutely," Archie agrees. "We will have to manage that work trying to get this beastly thing from the Steadmans at 6pm, of course. I'm sure it can be done."

Anna arranged for Eugene and Angus to be locked in the same room, which had plenty of light. By the time this was done, it was past five o'clock. Not much time remained before the Steadmans were due to meet at Liverpool Street Station.

Archie:

"Well, not a perfect victory but one problem at a time. Matthew says, therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

"Might just as well apply to after dark tonight."

"In the meantime, shall we take the subway to Liverpool Street?"

“I still think one of us should stay with Eugene and Angus” says Phyllis. “I’m happy to stay as I can’t be gallivanting after villains at my time of life. But if someone else would rather stay then I”ll be glad of some fresh air. Not that it’s particularly fresh around Liverpool St.”

'I think I'd better stay tonight. But I'd be happy for some company' says Anna.

OOC,Underground! That's what I meant, quite right, sounds much more authentic. Mental blank at time of writing.

Archie:

Archie looks around. "It may have to be you and me, Mrs Crukshank as we seem to have run out of willing volunteers and Anna needs to stay here."

"I'll stay too, if you'd rather go to the station, Reverend," said Maggie.

“That’s settled then; I’ll accompany Reverend Pennyfeather. We’ll try to be back before too late. Just make sure that the gentlemen have lots of light and extra fuel ready before it gets dark.” Phyllis is glad that Mrs Duncan enjoyed a long snooze on the foyer sofa; Maggie could sleep through anything!

Archie:

"I shall be honoured," Archie says to Phyllis. "Although I have no plan at this point. I guess we shall just have to take to the pulpit and seek divine inspiration. That's a joke we used to make back in the seminary, as we practised writing sermons." He smiles grimly.

OOC,Archie is ready to head off with Phyllis, no time to waste.

“Good bye everyone and good luck; we’ll see you in a bit.” Phyllis heads out with Archie. “I always enjoy a spontaneous sermon myself; much more inspiring.”

OOC,[b]Archie[/b] and [b]Phyllis[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Trainspotting

OOC,Everyone else is moving to the thread linked below:

Twilight Time